In her own words: Taylor Swift on her dramatic style reinvention

29 JANUARY 2013

When the world first met Taylor Swift as she burst onto the music scene in 2006, the 17-year-old was a cutesy country girl. Since then, the starlet has undergone something of a style transformation, and her daring new wardrobe is replete with dresses from luxury designers including Oscar de la Renta and Vera Wang.

Now 23, the country belle is certainly turning heads with her sartorial choices, and she reveals that the new look is simply part of getting older. "As far as wardrobe, we have been operating from a different place," the singer admitted in a recent interview to promote her weekend performance at the NRJ Music Awards, where she brushed shoulders with ex-boyfriend, Harry Styles.

The blonde acknowledges that her transformation has been a bit of a shock for some people, who are accustomed to seeing her softer, southern look. She recalled how her decision to wear shorts at last year's MTV Video Music Awards caused a stir: "It was like, 'Gasp, Taylor wears shorts.' And I thought it was hilarious". She added: "I'm not going to be like taking my clothes off or that sort of thing."

Taylor's fashion is a reflection of her overall maturation, with her latest album, Red, selling more than three million copies since it was released last autumn and spanning the hit singles, I Knew You Were Trouble and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, which is nominated for Record of the Year at next month's Grammy Awards.

"I'm so happy about [my] three nominations - it's so unreal," Taylor said of her music success. "I wanted to make a genre-defying record, I wanted to make an album that was hard to pin down, and hard to box in."

The album and its author are now an essential fixture on the music circuit, and Taylor recently warmed up for the Grammys at the NRJ Music Awards. The event, held in the coastal town of Cannes in France, saw the star and 18-year-old Harry Styles from One Direction publically reunite for the first time since calling time on their brief relationship.

Staying true to her bold new look, Taylor chose a show-stopping outfit for the occasion, consisting of an embellished gold dress, matching heels and immaculate hair and makeup.